Assistant Director - Africa Growth Initiative

Since Thursday, violence and protests have continued throughout the country, though largely in opposition-supporting areas. There have been reports of firebombing in Nairobi slums to which the police have responded with tear gas. Police have shot protesters. Some voters report attacks by opposition supporters for going in to vote. Five people have already been killed in the hostilities around the country.

Notably, given the low turnout, if Kenyatta does win, his mandate will be unclear. In addition, as Reuters reports, there are still many avenues through which opposition candidates can again call for an annulment. As George Kegoro, executive director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission, said, Thursday’s re-run “was more of a blow to democracy than it was a victory… It is a very, very significant legitimacy problem for whatever government [Kenyatta] might form.”

For up-to-date news on the election from the ground, see the Kenyan newspaper The Daily Nation.

Nikki Haley has strong words for South Sudan and DRC leaders, and Antonio Guterres calls for more international engagement in the CAR

This week, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley embarked on her first Africa trip where she paid a visit to South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Just before her departure, in an opinion piece on CNN.com, she stated that, during the visit, she would take a look at U.N. operations on the ground and meet with South Sudanese and Congolese leaders in order to “deliver a strong message that their governments need to stop making the work of aid workers and peacekeepers more difficult.”

Haley began her trip in South Sudan, during which she held a “very frank” conversation with President Salva Kiir, informing him that the U.S. had lost trust in the world’s youngest nation. She added that aid and other assistance are at stake and the U.S. will consider withholding funds if the violence does not ease. On Wednesday, she visited a U.N. camp, where her visit was cut short after hundreds of protesters showed up to protest Kiir, though the president was not present at the camp. Haley had to be escorted out of the camp.

In related news, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres arrived in the Central African Republic, where he met with President Faustin-Archange Touadéra and other members of government. Guterres called for increased engagement from the international community in the country, as “there is an opportunity to build a new Central African Republic that is peaceful, secure and prosperous.” Guterres endorsed the need to strengthen MINUSCA—the peacekeeping United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic—in order to allow it to better serve citizens. Guterres also warned against the potential use of religion to enforce political divisions, in light of the country’s historical division along ethno-religious lines. During his visit, Guterres also led a wreath-laying service to honor peacekeepers killed in action.